PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Joe Cicala of Le Virtù (below) is bringing pasta alla mugnaia to his Passyunk Avenue restaurant, made in one strand the way he recently learned in Italy.

“It’s almost on its way to extinction because there’s only a few families that know how to make it anymore, and the next generation doesn’t really have an interest in doing it,” he says. “So if you do find one of the handful of families in Abruzzo that make it, it’s really cool to see them do this.”

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(Joe Cicala of Le Virtù. Credit: Hadas Kuznits)

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Cicala says the single-strand pasta is traditionally eaten off the table or a board on the table, and shared by everyone in your group:

“Everyone has their own little ‘real estate’ at the table, and you just pick your own little pile and you eat from that.”

Listen to Hadas Kuznits’ full interview with Joe Cicala of Le Virtù in this CBS Philly podcast…

Over at Sbraga Restaurant, chef-owner Kevin Sbraga (below) hosts a special wine dinner on Tuesday.

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(Kevin Sbraga of Sbraga restaurant. Credit: Hadas Kuznits)

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“We have to think of the wines — and the wines come first and the food comes second,” Sbraga says. “Think of the wines, what goes well with it, and then pair the food with that. We don’t normally get to do that. Normally we create the food and then hope the wine matches.”

Listen to Hadas Kuznits’ full interview with Kevin Sbraga in this CBS Philly podcast…

Hadas Kuznits has been as a news writer/reporter for KYW Newsradio since September 2002, and has traveled the city — and the world — while covering stories for Newsradio.
She is also the host of KYW's series "What's Cooking on 1060!" -- covering...